The present invention may be best typified by reference to its use in racing cars in order to improve their driving performance and characteristics. Among such desirable characteristics are the ability to counteract centrifugal forces tending to cause sidewise or transverse roll of the vehicle without disturbing the normal performance of the vehicle suspension system; further to provide for a more simplified and effective means of controlling front-end alignment. In the past, various means have been proposed for counteracting or resisting vehicle roll or cornering loads which, for example, are imposed on the vehicle in rounding curves and which at higher speeds will tend to cause the wheels nearest the inside of the curve to be lifted. Representative of such approaches is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. to Hart No. 3,292,918 in which a relatively long flexible leaf spring extends transversely of the vehicle between opposite wheels and a relatively stiff spring overlies a portion of the longer spring and is flexibly connected to the longer spring so that it may be adjustably positioned along the length of the spring to selectively counteract roll forces. Thus, only roll forces generated for instance by a turn in a particular direction will act on the sprung weight of the vehicle so as to increase the loading on one end of the spring while decreasing it at the opposite end, the unbalanced loading tending to counteract undesirable roll of the vehicle. Similar approaches to that of Hart are disclosed in the early expired U.S. Pat. Nos. to Cook 2,236,868 and Giacosa 2,697,613. U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,855 to Adloff et al discloses a modification to the approach shown and disclosed in other patents and specifically wherein the outer ends of a lower leaf spring are connected to an upper leaf spring and the leaf springs are free to pivot at their mountings to the vehicle suspension system so that the lower leaf springs are capable of moving relative to the upper leaf springs. It has also been proposed to provide for transversely extending leaf springs which are pivotally mounted at opposite ends to the wheel spindle or suspension members with the principal aim being to devise an independent front wheel suspension system for automotive vehicles, such as typified in U.S. Pat. Nos. to Wolff 1,993,080 and Ridgway 1,209,205. Other representative U.S. Pat. Nos. are: 1,299,165 to Fulkerson; 2,458,548 to Aronson; 2,460,106 to Rowland; 3,107,104 to Angell; and 3,197,190 to Miyashiro.
The foregoing and other systems devised have definite limitations in their ability to transmit forces of sufficient magnitude to effectively counteract roll at higher speeds while at the same time providing a system which can be readily installed at the front and rear ends of a vehicle in such a way as to effectively counteract cornering loads at both ends.